


The Midnight Watch

by Dragonlingdar



Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Campfires, Conversations, Gen, Male-Female Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-23 11:56:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19700878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonlingdar/pseuds/Dragonlingdar
Summary: Good company and good conversation wards off the worst nightmares.





	The Midnight Watch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nebulariffic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nebulariffic/gifts).



> You listed both Olberic and H'aanit as underappreciated characters whom would you like to see more of, so...I hope you like this!
> 
> As an aside, I am not your assigned creator; nevertheless, I hope you are satisfied by my offering as well.
> 
> As I am a holdover from the Dark Ages: Nothing Octopath Traveler belongs to me.

Olberic reliably took the mid-night watch, since it allowed him to protect the rest of the party when the darkness was deepest; it also kept him awake during the hours that always brought his worst dreams. Olberic was staring at the fire and contemplating the revelations Gustav had provided regarding the man he had thought he knew best when his revere was broken by another speaking.

“Thou canst not sleepen either, Sir Olberic?”

Olberic looked across the fire at H’aanit, whose eyes almost seemed to reflect light like the cat she was using as a partial pillow. 

Olberic nodded slowly. “Some nights, sleep does not come easily.”

After a brief silence filled only by the chirping of insects, H’aanit spoke again: “At night, I sometimes dreamen of my Master--what it must have been like, to be turned to stone. What doth he thinken now, if anything at all? Doth he knowen the passage of time? Even if I slayen the beast, will he comen back to me? It is not pleasant, when my mind runen in circles so.”

Olberic nodded. “We both dream, but of different masters. Occasionally, I am...reminded...of my failure to save my king. I wonder, what would my life be like if I had stopped the regicide? Where would I be, what kind of person?”

“And what doth thy dreams sayen?”

“They never give me an answer,” Olberic responded sadly. “Because I can’t imagine anything other than losing.”

“Why? Thou art a strong warrior. Surely thine dreams are kind to thee on occasion.”

“Strong though I may be, I could...I could never kill Erhardt, and that would have been the only way to prevent the death of my lord.”

While most people would have asked Olberic who exactly Erhardt was to Olberic, H’aanit kept her peace. 

“Before now, I had no one but Master and Linde,” H’aanit eventually said, her voice low. “The people of S’warkii fearen and loven Master and I due to our skill and heritage, but none of my peers ever stroven to knowen me as a person. It is...odd, to be among so many who seemen to desiren my company.”

“You are more than just a strong woman, H’aanit,” Olberic commented. “You are extremely kind and keen of both mind and heart. You also keep our group comfortably fed and make dishes far above what paltry skill I--and, frankly, any of the others--have.”

H’aanit chuckled softly. “Thou dost flattern me, Sir Olberic.”

“Nay, I merely speak the truth.”

“Could you stop talking so loud? Some of us  _ are _ trying to sleep,” a grumpy drawl came from beneath a pile of blankets. 

“Thou hast not been asleep since  _ before _ Sir Olberic and I began to speaken, Therion,” H’aanit said mildly. 

“You are welcome to join the conversation if you want,” Olberic offered. “Bad dreams are warded best by good company.”

“I’d rather just get some sleep, if it’s all the same to you,” Therion replied.

“Comen here, Therion,” H’aanit said. “Linde is warmer than any blanket and, while she has never had kits, she shall protecten thee in thine slumber.”

“I’ll be fine if you just  _ shut up _ .”

Olberic watched H’aanit sit up and give Linde a significant look, who stood herself, walked around the campfire, and curled up around Therion. The young man briefly tensed and Olberic was afraid he’d lash out, but instead settled down with grumbled insults. Within the next few minutes, he was clearly deeply asleep. 

Olberic moved away from where Therion slept and instead took a seat next to H’aanit, who gave him a small smile. 

“It’s odd,” Olberic murmured, “but I think that both you and I have found a family of sorts.”

“We have founden people to caren for, to protecten,” H’aanit agreed. “I wanten to helpen the others achieven their goals as well as reviven Master.”

“I want to see Tressa find her most precious treasure,” Olberic agreed. “To guard Cyrus and Ophilia on their journeys--for knowledge and for light.”

“I wanten to see Therion and Primrose smilen easily,” H’aanit said. “Alfyn needen to be protected more from himself than others.”

Olberic chuckled softly. “I don’t know what he would do if he weren’t traveling with us. Refusing coin is noble, but it kills Tressa every time she has to help him purchase this or that reagent that he can’t find in the wild.”

“At least he hasn’t thoughten to asken Therion to stealen for him,” H’aanit murmured.

“I doubt he would, and I doubt even more that Therion would  _ offer _ .” Olberic paused, then asked: “Who do you think makes the most unlikely member of our band?”

“In truth? Mineself,” H’aanit answered.

“You feel as if you don’t belong?” Olberic asked, concerned.

H’aanit shook her head. “Not at all. It is merely that I am more used to beasts than humans.”

“I’ve always thought that Cyrus was the most out-of-place member,” Olberic said.

“Oh?”

“From what small experience I have had with the learned world, scholars such as him don’t leave their books easily or willingly. It is small wonder that he doesn’t catch the hint when people are flirting with him and how it takes someone yelling at him to get him to cease prying.”

H’aanit chuckled. “He is a good man, if just extremely...focused on the task he setten his mind to.”

Olberic nodded. “I am glad to have met all of you. It was...hard, being alone in my shame, anger, and grief. But you all...from bubbly Tressa to surly Therion...have given me insight into why I swing my blade.”

“And what doth that answer be, Sir Olberic?”

“Insight is not an answer,” Olberic said with the smallest of smiles. “I am not yet at peace with my past failures. But, I do know this--I would see none of you come to harm, if I can do anything to prevent it.”

“Thou art indeed a noble man.”

Olberic shook his head slowly. “It is your turn for the watch?” Olberic asked, the sounds of the deepest part of the night fading into what would give way to the day.

“Indeed,” H’aanit replied. “Try to sleepen some, Sir Olberic. We needen thine strength.”

“Make sure you get a little sleep in as well,” Olberic said and stood. “We need you to watch our backs.”

H’aanit nodded. “Sleepen well. I will keepen us safe until Alfyn awaken.”

Olberic nodded and wandered over to his bedroll, feeling his resolve-- _ I will protect these people _ \--strengthen just a little more.


End file.
